This is the time of year where pitchers seem to go down to injury left and right. The Detroit Tigers have already had a few injuries, most notably Travis Wood’s knee injury, but the guy they’re most concerned with is Michael Fulmer. The Tigers’ de-facto ace experienced elbow soreness in recent days, and his scheduled start on Sunday in Port Lucie will be pushed back instead.
As reported by George Sipple of the Detroit Free Press, the soreness was located on the back of the elbow, the opposite side from where Fulmer had ulnar nerve transposition surgery in October. A precautionary MRI came back clean, but manager Ron Gardenhire says the Tigers will be cautious with Fulmer and give him all the rest he needs before getting him back on the mound.
Michael Fulmer did have a precautionary MRI on his elbow and it checked out clean.
— Chris McCosky (@cmccosky) March 3, 2018
So far this spring, Fulmer has made just one start. He spun two innings last Monday, allowing a solo shot while striking out a pair. Jason Beck of MLB.com reports that Alex Wilson will take Fulmer’s scheduled start on Sunday. As for Fulmer, the Tigers will let the elbow rest a few days, but do expect him to make a start next week.
In other injury news, reliever Blaine Hardy, who has thus far been sidelined with a shoulder impingement, was able to play catch on Friday. He was scheduled to resume his throwing program this weekend. Should all go well, Hardy could see his first Grapefruit League action sometime in the coming week.